Rhode Island final installment

Day 5 we went back down to Cape Cod and ventured into Chatham a seaside village with a lighthouse and nice beach. I could live here. We did the tourist things and shopped and milled around and made our way up the coast to the next crossroads where we picked up highway 6 again and went back to Newport.

 

We had decided if we didn’t take a tour of at least The Breakers we would be bummed. So, we arrived at The Breakers and paid for the tour. It is a self-lead tour listening to narration as you go through the Mansion. This is the first mansion built by the Vanderbilt family on the cliffs, well actually the second the first burnt to the ground, they rebuilt it out of stone and metal so it wouldn’t burn to the ground again.

 

 

 

The Breakers is now owned by the Newport Preservation Society who conducted the tours and manned the areas. The Vanderbilt family still vacations there however, that was part of the agreement they got to keep the third floor of the mansion and live there when they wanted too. Pretty good gig they got paid 400K for the property and still get to use it as a home and get everything paid for by the society and the funds from the tours.

Alcove fountain

Dining hall

Dining Hall

Dining Hall

Music room

Music room

Library

Library

Master Bath tub in carved out
of one piece of Marble

Grand Staircase entry
into Grand Hall

Grand Hall

Tapestry

The Breakers was awesome though and crazy to think that a family needed something that huge to live in, but I’m sure it pales in comparison to some of the new ones today. Still though what a house!

We finished the night off back in Dartmouth with dinner and early to bed. We did ask to be moved because the hotel was empty and the only people on the floor with us was of course next to us and still happily married. The new room was horrible!!!

Day 6 we hit the road by 4:30 am and were the airport by 5:30 waiting for our flight to Baltimore and then home. It was a fantastic vacation and adventure, all but the hotel. We saw almost everything we went to see and seen somethings we didn’t know we were going to see.

Trout in the Mist

Thursday Shifty and I ventured to Rockport Reservoir to try for some Brown trout and smallmouth bass. we made it to the ramp at sunrise and quickly realized the water was turbulent and very low. We drove down the ramp and to see if it was as bad as it looked and it was worse.  We decided to go back to another lake, but on the way out of the park we came upon three bucks.  All three were nice sized 4 points.  We managed to get pictures of two of them but the larger of the three managed to sneak around us.  They were a sight to see!  We made it back to the overlook for Jordanelle and it was glass! We had decided to go to Strawberry along the way but when we seen this we made a quick call to the marina to see what their conditions were like. The gal that answered the phone told us that she couldn't see the lake due to the fog. Hmmm, "oh so there is no wind?" "correct" at that point we kept driving to Strawberry knowing that the fish would be hungry and aggressive.

We made it to the marina and she was not kidding the fog was socked in we could see about 20 feet and that was stretching it. We readies the boat and drove down the ramp. At the ramp the UDWR was there waiting for a load of planters to put in Strawberry. Launched the boat and headed out into the abyss. We dropped the trolling motor and began trolling, watching the gps map on the fish finder.  About 10 minutes into the troll Shifty got a hit and hooked up the first of what we planned on being a multitude of fish for the day. Landing it we continued on, but we got off course and ended up at Hawes Point and we were looking for the opening of the Narrows. Correcting our course we started out across the fog covered water and every once in a while get a glimpse of another boat on the lake. We trolled for about 30 minutes but grew tired of the pace and pulled up the trolling motor and made our way across the lake. I was in the nose watching the map and Shifty was driving, I was also watching for the shore to come out of the fog. We made it across as the shore eerily came into view, it was right out of the old horror movies.

 

We dropped the trolling motor again and made our way along the shoreline into the Narrows. I wanted to go into the Narrows to see the island I didn't know existed until I studied the map, Shifty didn't know it was there either. As we fished along the shore we came out of the fog and into the branch off leg that separated the inside island and we turned up that leg.  Still no fish at this time, not so hot and heavy. we ventured up the leg and seen two other boats in the channel and they weren't catching anything either. Shifty put on a rapala and within a few minutes he caught his second a nice rainbow trout. we got into the channel far enough that the water was to shallow to really troll so we turned around and headed out to the main Narrows channel.  We changed up colors, size and speed but couldn't get another bite. Back in the main channel the wind was blowing and cooled us down a bit. On the way out of the channel we saw a Bald Eagle fishing and then perch on a rock watching us fish. A cool sight to see.

 

 

We were back on the main body and seen a few boats in a bay right outside the channel and decided to join them. A little ways into the bay we decide to pull in our trolling gear and started casting hardware at the bank. We fished into the bay along the bank almost the end. Shifty kept saying lets go out a little deeper and about the time I was going to turn the boat out into the deeper water I got my hook up. It felt heavy and fight pretty good. As the fish neared the boat we could both see it was a nice Cutthroat. When Shifty got it in the net we both gave out a little yell because it was a "Walter". Measuring out to 22 inches and 4 pounds it was the catch of the day and my PR for Cutthroat Trout. After a couple pictures we released it to fight again another day.

We fished the bay for a little while longer but nothing.  We went back into another bay across the lake and fished it for about an hour. Then we moved to Mudd Creek and fished there for about an hour and Shifty did manage to get another small cutthroat to the boat. 3 pm and we had put four fish in the boat. We were hungry and tired and decided to call it. So we headed out of Mudd Creek and back toward the marina trolling for another hour and then we called it and pull the trolling motor in and ran to the ramp. Getting to the ramp I got off to get the truck and the boat died, out of gas! It has been a good season! We loaded the boat with the trolling motor and made our way to Heber and ate at the Dairy Keen and then home.

Rhode Island part 3

Day 4 we ventured back into Rhode Island and took the back roads to get there. We went to Horseneck beach, where Sally went “surfing”…lol. We walked along the beach for a bit and found a seashell or two along with a crab pot buoy, did I mention I want one of these for the man cave, but this one was too big to take home, plus it had the captain’s numbers on it so I put on the fence so those in charge could report it.

 

We got back on the road and made our way to Newport, RI. This is a fascinating and beautiful area. The main attractions are the Mansions and the Cliff Walk. The Cliff Walk is lined with Mansions and Salve Regina University. We parked at the beach just below the entrance of the Cliff Walk and made our way to the trailhead. We started our journey and made it about a mile into the hike and realized that the next stop with any facilities was three miles down the trail. We hiked on and seen some of the bigger homes along the way but really only managed about a third of the hike before turning back.

 

We did see some of the cliffs which were cool to watch the waves crash into them. We made it back to the car and ventured around town a little bit before finding a YMCA and took a short break there. After that we went back into Mansion alley which is Ochre Point Ave. When we got to The Breakers we found a parking lot across the road and parked, this is a free parking lot for visitors, great to see. We hiked around The Breakers taking in its size and grandeur. We didn’t think we wanted to take the tour so we walked down the Cliff Walk to the point we had made it to and then the rain came in. We turned around and made it back to the car a little wet but not bad.

 

We drove around and took in the other Mansions in the area, which were plentiful. These monster homes were something else. After seeing the Cliff Walk and mansions of Newport we went to the International Tennis Hall of Fame. They were getting ready to close but gave us a little time to look around the grounds and get a couple pictures.  The ITHF wasn't anything like the Pro-Football Hall of Fame, but still interesting.

 

 

After taking in everything we could we made our way over to the wharf and parked for the evening. Asking the parking lot attendant, not free, where the good restaurants were in the vicinity. He gave us a couple options and we went looking. This area of Newport was neat to take in, with its shops and boats to browse through. We found Diego’s one of the restaurants that he had suggested and decided to get dinner which was good timing. We only had to wait 15 minutes but everyone behind us due to reservations were told 1 to 1.5 hour wait time. This place was delicious. I had Korean BBQ pork tacos and Sally had a salad. Plenty of food and great taste. The seating was a little lack luster but the food made up for it. We finished up and made our way back to the car and headed for the hotel. Yep the crowds were still there in full power. We went to the room and quickly learned that our neighbors were happily married, that was a first for us! We put in our earplugs and tried to sleep.